In the digital age, as reality and virtuality merge, our latest podcast episode takes you on a journey through fashion and embodiment. Imagine a world where the sweep of fabric and the curve of a waist are defined as much by pixels as by their physical presence. Amidst this evolving digital scene, where does the body fit into the landscape of digital fashion? Are we on the cusp of redefining our very notions of physicality?
Yifan Pu is a Chinese Virtual Fashion Designer and Artist, currently based in Berlin. She was chosen as a resident artist in Helsinki Fashion Week, Digital Artist Residency, Factory Berlin x Sonar+D, etc. She has been featured in publications such as Vogue Germany, i-D Germany, Vogue Poland, Hunger Magazine, and Kaltblut Magazine. She is also a member of the global womxn 3D artist collective, Digi-Gxl.
Where is the body in digital fashion?
"The body is absent. It's visually surprising for people because the clothes can walk on their own. Like you don't even need the avatar. I think it's kind of avoiding all those topics about body shapes by just not showing the body at all."
- Yifan Pu
Yifan personally enjoys fashion as digital content more than physical wearables. She finds virtual fashion a perfect tool to push the limit of imagination without necessarily keeping a relation with consumption and mass production. Through her practice, she has developed more sense of responsibility as a designer now so she’s advocating zero-waste pattern making as well as involving digital fashion earlier in the traditional fashion design workflow, as one of the solutions to cut down waste in the industry.
"Innovation and technological progress always do both: good and bad. It is impossible to have a tech that doesn't have a downside to it. It's important that we don't forget it with digital fashion. From this holistic awareness, we can really move forward."
- Beata Wilczek
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud, or watch on YouTube.
Host: Beata Wilczek
Guest: Yifan Pu
Music: SKY H1
Production: Julia Kąkolewska
Has this Fashion Knowledge podcast ignited a fresh perspective or aha moment for you? Join the discussion! Share your observations and questions below and engage with our community.
Share this post